SAN FRANCISCO: The amount of data sent online in North America has more than doubled over the past year, with Netflix shows accounting for a big chunk of Internet traffic, a report found Wednesday.

Online data use in North America was up 120 per cent this year, with video streaming service Netflix accounting for 33 per cent of the traffic streamed on “fixed networks,” according to Sandvine's Global Internet Phenomena Report.

Canada-based Sandvine specializes in mobile and fixed, or wired, broadband Internet systems.

Audio and video streaming accounts for 65 percent of all downstream traffic from 9:00 pm to 12:00 am daily and half of that is Netflix traffic on North American fixed networks, according to Sandvine chief executive Dave Caputo.

“Prioritizing real-time applications like live audio and video is critical to maintaining a high quality of experience,” Caputo said.

“There is no doubt that more communications service providers will be launching application-based pricing plans that provide cost certainty and a consistent quality of experience for high-demand applications.”

Content from Google-owned online video venue YouTube accounted for a fifth of peak period data traffic on mobile Internet networks in Europe, according to Sandvine.

Asia leads the world when it comes to consuming Internet data on mobile devices, the report indicated.